Mauby on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Mauby, also known as madi, maví, mobi, mabi, and maubi, is a tree bark-based beverage grown, and widely consumed, in the 
Haiti and the Dominican Republic are two of the largest Caribbean exporters of the bark and leaves. Often the drink is fermented using a portion of the previous batch, while sometimes it is consumed unfermented. Mauby is often bought as a pre-made syrup and then mixed with water (sparkling or still) to the consumer's taste, but many make it themselves at home or purchase it from neighbourhood producers or street sellers. Its taste is initially sweet, somewhat like root beer, but changes to a prolonged, but not astringent bitter
Caribbean
The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
. It is made with sugar and the bark and/or fruit of certain species in the genus '' Colubrina'' including '' Colubrina elliptica'' and '' Colubrina arborescens'', a small tree native to the northern Caribbean and south Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
. Recipes usually include other ingredients as well, spices such as aniseed
Anise (; '), also called aniseed or rarely anix, is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to the eastern Mediterranean region and Southwest Asia.
The flavor and aroma of its seeds have similarities with some other spices and herbs, ...
being very common. Mauby was traditionally a fermented beverage
This is a list of fermented foods, which are foods produced or preserved by the action of microorganisms. In this context, Fermentation in food processing, fermentation typically refers to the fermentation of sugar to ethanol, alcohol using yeas ...
made in small batches, but is now predominantly a commercial non-fermented soft drink
A soft drink (see #Terminology, § Terminology for other names) is a class of non-alcoholic drink, usually (but not necessarily) Carbonated water, carbonated, and typically including added Sweetness, sweetener. Flavors used to be Natural flav ...
.
Haiti and the Dominican Republic are two of the largest Caribbean exporters of the bark and leaves. Often the drink is fermented using a portion of the previous batch, while sometimes it is consumed unfermented. Mauby is often bought as a pre-made syrup and then mixed with water (sparkling or still) to the consumer's taste, but many make it themselves at home or purchase it from neighbourhood producers or street sellers. Its taste is initially sweet, somewhat like root beer, but changes to a prolonged, but not astringent bitter aftertaste
Aftertaste is the taste intensity of a food or beverage that is perceived immediately after that food or beverage is removed from the mouth. The aftertastes of different foods and beverages can vary by intensity and over time, but the unifying fea ...
. To many, it is an acquired taste, and has been known to cause an initial laxative reaction unexpected to many first-time drinkers.
In Puerto Rico the drink is also called ''mavi champán'' (champagne mauby) because the drink is fermented, causing it to foam. This process is made by mixing an older batch with a new batch. Mauby bark and leaves are boiled with ginger, avocado leaves, brown sugar and other spices. The drink is then placed in a tight sealed bottle and left out in the sun for 6-8 hours. The drink is then placed in a dark cool place left to ferment up to a week. Ginger has a significant role in the fermentation process.
Commercial soft drinks
: Grupo Taino LLC of the Dominican Republic markets two commercial versions of ''mabi'', both made with carbonated water. ''Seybano'' is lighter in color and made from tree bark extract and white andbrown sugar
Brown sugar is a sucrose sugar product with a distinctive brown color due to the presence of molasses. It is either an unrefined or partially refined soft sugar consisting of sugar crystals with some residual molasses content or produced by t ...
, while ''Cacheo'' is darker and made from both bark and fruit extract, with spices and brown sugar. Contrary to its name, ''Mabi Cacheo'' does not include sap from the Cacheo palms ('' Pseudophoenix ekmanii'' and '' P. vinifera'').
''Mauby Fizzz'' is a commercially produced and carbonated version of the drink produced in Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...
by multinational PepsiCo
PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase, New York, Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the f ...
from mauby bark. It is unfermented. A similar version is also produced in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, sometimes known simply as Saint Vincent or SVG, is an island country in the eastern Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies, at the south ...
called Hairoun Mauby, produced by St. Vincent Brewery Limited, a company in the AmBev portfolio.
References
* * * {{cite web , url=http://slakethirst.com/2006/05/20/making-mauby/ , title=Making Mauby , work=Slakethirst , date=2006-05-20 , access-date=2007-01-18 , archive-date=2017-08-29 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829043726/http://slakethirst.com/2006/05/20/making-mauby/ , url-status=dead Fermented drinks Soft drinks Caribbean drinks Barbadian cuisine Trinidad and Tobago cuisine Guyanese cuisine Antigua and Barbuda cuisine